Spruston Lab

 We study the hippocampus, both because of an interest in how the properties of its neurons allow the circuit to form and store memories, and because of advantages conferred by its cellular organization. Most of the projects in the lab involve electrophysiological recording in brain slices, neuroanatomical analysis, computational modeling, or a combination of these approaches.

	Dendritic integration in hippocampal pyramidal neurons: We use dendritic patch-clamp recording, two-photon imaging and uncaging, electron microscopy, array tomography, and computational modeling to study how dendrites integrate the thousands of excitatory inputs they receive from other neurons in the circuit. The process of synaptic integration in excitable dendrites fundamentally determines the computational transformations that neurons perform on the information they receive.
	Synaptic plasticity: Using similar methodologies, we are studying how synaptic weights are regulated by activity and by modulatory neurotransmitters. At the center of our interest is the role of dendritic excitability in various forms of synaptic plasticity.
	Non-synaptic plasticity: Activity and modulatory transmitters can also regulate neuronal excitability. We are studying this process with an emphasis how this kind of plasticity alters the process of synaptic integration.
	Cellular diversity: All of the processes described above exhibit variation among the many different types of neurons in the hippocampus. We are using mice containing genetically labeled neuronal subtypes to study the function of different kinds of neurons.
	Slow integration and persistent firing in hippocampal interneurons: We discovered a new form of integration in a select group of inhibitory interneurons. This integration is hundreds to thousands of times slower than traditional synaptic integration (tens of seconds instead of milliseconds) and takes place in the axon instead of dendrites.